US-backed SDF says fight against ISIL enters ‘final moments’

The US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) say the battle against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) in Baghouz is as good as over, with the armed group facing imminent defeat.

Thick black smoke rose from the ISIL-held encampment on Wednesday, as air strikes and mortar fire pounded Baghouz for a third night in a row.

The Kurdish-led SDF has unleashed a deluge of fire on Baghouz, a little cluster of hamlets and farmland on the banks of the Euphrates river, with around 3,000 ISIL fighters and their families surrendering since Monday.

Kino Gabriel, a spokesman for the SDF, said that after the series of surrenders, the offensive against ISIL was “as good as over”.